"Who are you talking about? I’ve been getting calls from Carrie’s parents. They want to see Angel, JC, they didn’t sound very happy… and I knew if I told you, you would have never come. If you don’t let them see Angel, I’m afraid they might take legal action.”
“Legal action?!” he exclaimed. “You’ve gotta be kidding me! I’ve had Angel for her whole life, she’s MY baby, Mom. She’s all I have, and there’s no way in hell I’m just handing her over.”
“Shh…” Mrs. Chasez hushed her son. “You don’t want her to hear you.”
JC angrily stood up. “Angel!” he called. “Come here!” When she ran out, he picked her up and went to the door.
“What are you doing?!” Mrs. Chasez demanded. She watched him pick up their bags.
Justin saw a little coffee shop, and thought about stopping, but decided that he had more pressing issues to worry about. The Minneapolis airport was huge, and usually, he didn’t travel alone, so now he hade to worry about procedure, and all that fun stuff.
He headed straight to baggage claim, and found his heavy, black suitcase. When the rollers hit the ground, he flinched at the sound of hard plastic hitting concrete. He dug his hand in his pocket, reaching for the folded piece of yellow paper, and thought about what to say to JC if he found him. WHEN he found him.
He just had to track him down. If not, then he would have wasted vacation time for nothing.
But what would he say? Oh, God, JC, I’m SO sorry about what happened those quadrillion years ago. I’m SORRY that you stole money from me, and I’m SORRY you’re such a son of a…”
“Sir, your bag.”
He looked over at the woman who was practically jogging to keep up with him. He slowed down. “I’m sorry, what?”
“Your bag, it’s torn. I just thought you’d like to know.”
Justin looked down at his bag, and sure enough, there was a tear in it. “Damn, Northwest!” he swore, but then turned back to the woman. “Sorry… thanks for telling me, ma’am.” He gave his suitcase another shove, this one toward the complaint department.
During the car ride to the Marquette in down town Minneapolis, Justin thought about getting out a pen and paper so he could add Northwest to his hit list. Truth be told, there wasn’t really a hit list, but if there were, Northwest would surly be toward the top. He made a mental note: Next time, take a different airline.
It WAS true that he’d mellowed over the years. He wasn’t really MAD at JC anymore, but what happened still confused him. He STILL didn’t understand why, and he still wondered what had happened that night when JC had called the next morning, not having a clue where he was. It was all one big mystery, and Justin had a feeling that if he had known, then maybe everything would be different… maybe JC would still be his best friend, maybe they’d still be singing together.
He sighed, as if he hadn’t thought about it a million times before.
“We’re leaving,” JC spat out, and Angel started to cry.
“You can’t leave!” Mrs. Chasez decided.
“Watch me. You drag us down here just to,” he stopped. He couldn’t say it. She didn’t even know… she didn't know what he was afraid of, and she didn’t know why. How could she? She didn’t know what he had done.
“Just to what, JC?”
She was crying now, and with his mom and his daughter both in tears, he couldn’t help but join them. He dropped his bags, held Angel tighter and turned around. “You don’t understand!” he yelled back. “I can’t do this anymore! This back and forth stuff is KILLING me!”
“What is back and forth for you?”
Mr. Chasez stepped out of the kitchen. “What is going on out here?”
Mrs. Chasez took Angel out of JC’s arms without a struggle, not even bothering to answer her husband. “I bet you’re very tired, sweetheart. How would you like it if Grandma read you a story?”
Angel was still crying as she reached out for her father. “Daddy!”
“Don’t worry, princess, I’m staying right here,” he assured her as he wiped a tear off his own cheek. “Don’t worry…”
“Daddy!” Angel screamed again, and JC took her back. “Shh,” he cooed, rocking her back and forth. “I’m so sorry, princess, this is all my fault. I’m so sorry.” He sat down on the couch with her, and when his parents left the room, he started to sing to her the first song that came to mind.
“Your love is like a river, peaceful and deep. Your soul is like a secret that never could keep. When I look into your eyes, I know that it’s true… God must have spent a little more time on you…”
JC watched Angel sleeping. It was the next morning, and he couldn’t stop staring at her sweet face. He felt like a bad father… he’d let his temper get the best of him, and forgot that Angel was in the room, in his arms, when he yelled at his mom. How could he let her get to him like that?
But it wasn’t his mom that was getting to him, was it? It was Orlando. The city gave him the creeps. Justin could be anywhere… and he could run into him at any time. Justin KNEW where his parents lived, and who said that he couldn’t just stop by? JC wasn’t safe anywhere.
He needed to take his daughter and get the hell back to Minnesota, where they belonged, as soon as they could get back into their house.
The door clicked open, and JC sat up. His mother stood there. “It’s late, JC. Do you always let Angel sleep this long?”
“No,” he said quietly, as to not wake Angel up. “Usually, she has to get up to go to school. We had a long day yesterday, so I’m letting her sleep in.” He lifted the covers off of himself and carefully got out of bed. Once in the hall, he followed his mother into the kitchen.
“Well? Are you going to call them? The number is right here, son.”
JC frowned at his dad. “I’m trying to be pleasant, really, I am, but I have to be honest with you two. I don’t want to call them, I don’t want them to see Angel, and I don’t want anything to do with them.”
“JC, you know you can’t let the Smiths take you to court over this. How good do you think it would be for Angel to have the adults in her life fight over her like that?”
“That’s just the thing, Dad, I’m the only adult in her life. She doesn’t even know that they exist. I’m all she needs.”
His mom sat down at the table. “I thought we already taught you how to share when you were Angel’s age.”
He let out a sigh as he plopped down across the table from his mom. This was one of the reasons why he hated Orlando so much. The nagging… it was never ending! “Just give me the phone. I’ll do it.”
Mr. Chasez slid the cordless to his son from across the table. “I’m proud of you,” he said with sincerity.
JC rolled his eyes like a rebellious teenager. “What’s the number?”
Chapter 12
Not A Day Goes By
JC {Fiction}
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I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
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